


The Witch & The Affair

by Lillington_x



Category: The Sims (Video Games), The Sims 4 - Fandom
Genre: Glimmerbrook is so overlooked, Infidelity, Multi, New love, Revenge, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28642773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lillington_x/pseuds/Lillington_x





	1. Chapter 1

“So how is he with Elijah?”   
  
Kelsey chuckled into the glass of fruit punch pressed to her burgundy painted lips. “What do you mean ‘how is he with Elijah’? That’s his son. He’s a great father.”   
  
The family nanny huffed and his shoulders drew upward as he looked at his long-time friend who was neatly seated on the other side of the couch from him. He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.   
  
“I do appreciate your concern, but I know what you meant, Bry. Everyone in this godforsaken town whispers about it like I don’t know, but come on. He’s _the_ Don Lothario. No one’s ever been able to hold him down, not even when he was a teenager and still wet behind the ears,” she added. “I didn’t plan on this and I’m sure he didn’t either. We just...fucked up.”   
  
“Kelsey. Language,” he warned as two squealing children ran by with cans of silly string going off in their sticky hands. The nanny fidgeted and looked back over at his friend with a soft, empathetic gaze.   
  
“Hun, why don’t you leave him?” he asked to which she laughed again. The wedding ring on her finger rang out as the metal came in contact with the glass in her grasp.   
  
“I moved him into _my_ house to help raise _our_ child. When I feel as though he becomes a problem toward Elijah or he starts slacking at all, I will handle it. This is my castle and I know what I’m doing. I run this show,” she explained. As the words left her lips, the doorbell chimed and they both shifted enough on the couch to see a head full of scarlet hair through the glass panels on the front doors.   
  
Kelsey’s stomach dropped and her jaw clenched. A few of the other adult partygoers muttered beneath their breaths and the air grew stiff as the room seemed to swell with tension. Despite sudden nausea settling within her gut, Kelsey pushed to her feet with a quiet sigh like everything had been normal. The thick heel of her ankle booties clicked and clacked against the hardwood floors as she crossed the vividly decorated living room. The familiar, telltale floorboard between the kitchen and the living room creaked as someone else entered.   
  
“I’ve got it, sweetheart,” came Don’s smooth voice a few feet to his wife’s right. She didn’t falter in her approach. After all, it was her house.   
  
“I’ve got it,” she chirped as her fingers wrapped around the brass door handle milliseconds before he could do so. She turned just enough to see Don’s wide eyes briefly flicker with fear as she opened the front door. He looked as though he was in the middle of swallowing a frog.   
  
“Miss Caliente,” Kelsey greeted the newest guest through a fake smile.   
  
“Hey Misses Lothario,” the redhead responded. Her eyes flickered past the woman at the door and a fire ignited in her dark eyes. “Don.”   
  
“Katrina,” he said back, rolling her name around his mouth with just a hint of an airy sigh. Kelsey cleared her throat and the kid’s birthday party seemed to come roaring back in her ears. The cheery kid’s bops spilling from the radio in the corner just barely loud enough to muffle the sound of some colorful kid’s show flashing on the wide flatscreen television. The nauseatingly sweet smell of cookies and cake hung in the air and mixed nicely with the warm breeze drifting in through the open doors and windows. Don stepped up and shoved his hands into the front pockets of his worn denim jeans. It annoyed Kelsey that he not only suddenly got to the door so quickly from the back of the party, but now he suddenly wanted to act bashful.   
  
“Glad you could make it Katrina,” Kelsey finished with a hint of sarcasm. It took everything in her not to slam the door as Katrina entered her house with a wrapped present in tow.   
  
“This is for Elijah. Where is the birthday boy?” Katrina asked with a smirk.   
  
“He’s playing with his friends. I’ll put this with the others,” Kelsey quickly swiped the gift from the woman and marched out of the bumbling room. There was heat rising through the collar of her blouse. She could feel sweat starting to form along her collarbones and behind her knees from under her pencil skirt. Her fingertips were tingling. She needed a moment to get herself together. Elijah ran past her in the hall with two other children at his heels. She didn’t even bother telling them to slow down before she slammed the bathroom door closed behind her. She dropped the wrapped parcel in the sink and her shaking hands flew to her face.   
  
Her chin trembled and her throat burned as heavy, hot tears escaped her hazel eyes and ran down her cheeks. She turned away from the blurry reflection in the mirror and let herself sob. With a slight flick of her wrist, she turned up the radio and television playing in the living room. Children cheered and a few adult voices rose to be heard. She didn’t want to risk anyone hearing her breakdown. She wrung out her fingers over and over but the tingling would not subside. She gritted her teeth and finally let loose.   
  
The gift-wrapped box in the sink twitched before the cardboard began to crumble in on itself. Kelsey panted as her magic crushed the box, twisting the cardboard down and around the hidden gift until it ripped and revealed what was inside. A brand new digital drawing tablet with a stylus to match. A growl rumbled in her raw throat and the screen of the tablet gave way to long, thin cracks destroying the glass and plastic. The screen flickered to static then all-white then nothing. A little bit of smoke floated up from the broken device and the smell of it jarred Kelsey back to reality. Children were laughing and hooting and hollering feet away from her refuge. She couldn’t ruin her son’s birthday with a negative discharge of energy. She hated the thoughtful present. Don had probably given the woman all the hints she needed in order for her to look like the perfect family friend to their son. For now, she would let him live that lie. Once Elijah was old enough, he would know about his father and he would understand, but right now, it was the adult’s little secret.   
  
The door to the bathroom cracked open just enough for Don to slide in. He looked at her wet, reddened face and didn’t say a word.   
  
“You didn’t tell me that she was coming,” Kelsey claimed, solemn voice wavering only slightly.   
  
“If I had told you, you probably would have canceled the entire party,” Don remarked with a slight eye roll. “Come on. Elijah would have loved that.”   
  
He gestured to the broken heap of plastic and metal she had forgotten she was holding.   
  
“Oh,” she waved one of her hands and pieced the device back together. The box straightened out and the gift wrap was back in place. Don reached out and swiped at a single tear rolling down her left cheek until she jerked away.   
  
“Don’t touch me,” she thrust the box at him. “Your hands have been all over her again. I can tell.”   
  
He sighed and pursed his lips. Kelsey turned to the sink and splashed water on her face then blotted it dry with a thick, orange towel.   
  
“How many times do you want me to apologize?” he asked.   
  
“I don’t give a damn about your apologies anymore, Don. The only reason why I keep you around is for the sake of our son and when he’s old enough to understand a few things, I’ll send you packing so you can go be with her. Do you understand me?” she declared through her teeth. She was strong again, intimidating and borderline frightening to most everyone, except him. He knew that no matter how mad he made her, she would never hurt him.   
  
“If you would just move past what happened then maybe we could-"   
  
“What HAPPENED?” she echoed with a scowl. “What’s HAPPENING, you mean? Don’t act like it was a one-time thing. I’m not stupid. Glimmerbrook isn’t that big a town for you to think you have secrets.”   
  
“Please lower your voice. Someone will hear,” he suggested. The tingling in her fingers started up again so she pushed past him and went back to the party. She plastered a big smile on her face as she shouldered her way into the kitchen.   
  
“Where’s my Elijah? It’s time to sing to the birthday boy!” she called. A chorus of children cheered and a few went this way and that to retrieve her bright child. Katrina pushed into the kitchen with him latched to her hip.   
  
“Here he is!” she announced. Kelsey nearly snatched her son away from the adulteress and hugged him to her side. He clutched on to the edges of her cardigan and his eyes brightened as she lit the birthday candles atop his strawberry cake with a few snaps of her fingers.   
  
“Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!” the crowded house sang around the child nestled close to his singing mother. “Happy Birthday dear Elijah! Happy Birthday to you!”   
  
Kelsey’s eyes met Don right as he looked over at Katrina who was flushed pink and shifting uncomfortably as she sang along. He tried to hide the glance by squinting at a clock on the wall then looking back to his wife, who just shook her head and lovingly stroked their son’s shoulders.   
  
“How old are you? How oooold are you?"   
  
“Eight!” he exclaimed, raising laughter from his peers.   
  
“Blow out the candles, baby!” Kelsey cheered. She lifted the boy up by her waist and the two of them leaned over the cake to blow out the candles together. She toyed with them a bit, using a simple wink to re-light the wax sticks a few times after he blew them out, raising laughter from the children around them and a certain uneasiness from the adults who could feel the shifting tension.   
  
As the party waned to a close, Elijah grew tuckered out. Don and Kelsey bid their visitors farewell on the porch as they departed one by one until the house was empty. Katrina Caliente weaseled her way out with a small group without a word to either of the hosts.   
  
Don wiped off the kitchen counter and tucked away what was left of the birthday cake into the refrigerator. Elijah was dozing off on the living room couch in front of a new superhero movie he had gotten as one of his gifts. His mother entered the room and plucked a few pieces of sprinkles from his dark hair as he quietly snored. She gently shook his shoulder and he stirred.   
  
“Brush your teeth and get into bed, munchkin. I’ll tuck you in,” she suggested. He clambered off the sofa and disappeared down the hall. Kelsey joined Don in the kitchen where he was sweeping party streamers off of the linoleum floor. She began to load sticky plates and cups into the dishwasher.   
  
“Kels,” Don spoke up after a bit of silence.   
  
“Yeah?” she responded as she filled the appliance with the proper soaps.   
  
“You know I love you and Elijah...”   
  
She sighed and rolled her eyes while her back was turned to him. He did this every time.   
  
“What the people of Glimmerbrook gossip about is a reflection of me, not you and him...”   
  
Every time he felt out of control, he would spin a rap to calm her down for a few days. It usually worked and quelled her long enough for him to coincidentally bump into Katrina once or twice.   
  
“Please, Kelsey?” His question pulled her from her thoughts. He was looking at her expectantly and her hand was in his grasp. His thumb traced small circles along her knuckles. Her brow furrowed.   
  
“What?”   
  
“Can we please just put the past behind us?”   
  
“Sure, Don. Whatever you say,” she griped. He pulled her in for a hug, one she didn’t return as she just stood there in his arms. She heard the light switch off in the bathroom then Elijah appeared in the doorway.   
  
“Can you tuck me in now, ma?” he asked with a yawn.   
  
Don dropped his arms and asked, “Don’t you want me to tuck you in, munchkin?”   
  
“I want ma to tuck me in. She does it the right way,” Elijah countered, his bright eyes focused on his mother. Don’s eyebrows rose and he quietly huffed as he watched his wife leave the kitchen and escort their son to his bedroom at the end of the hallway. Elijah quickly pulled on his patterned pajamas and peeled back the blankets on his spaceship-shaped bed. Kelsey sat on the edge and pulled the covers up to his chest. He stopped the sheets with his hands and looked up at his mother.   
  
“What’s a step-mom?” he asked. Kelsey paused and frowned.   
  
“A stepmom is a woman who helps take care of a child if their regular mom isn’t able to. Why?” Elijah nervously eyed the door. Kelsey made it swing shut with a wag of her finger. She rubbed the side of her little boy’s face to comfort him until their eyes met again.   
  
“Elijah? What’s going on?”   
  
“Miss Caliente... She said she was prolly gonna be my stepmom,” Elijah uttered. “But you said a stepmom takes care of me if my regular mom can’t. You can’t take care of me?”   
  
For the second time that day, Kelsey’s stomach fell to the floor. Her cheeks warmed pink with blood. Her hands slowly tightened into fists in her lap as her fingers tingled then went numb. The mistress had stepped out of line. Kelsey had found texts and emails between the woman and Don. Neighbors and friends had approached her to tell her they had seen Don with the woman at coffee shops and hotels. The adulteress had sent Don back home to his family covered in love bites and smeared lipstick that Kelsey had made go away with the blink of an eye so their son would not notice. But now? She was planting rotten seeds in her son’s innocent mind, the mind Kelsey worked tirelessly to ensure didn’t turn out like his father’s. Now, on his eighth birthday, he was being told his mother would not always be there for him by a woman who probably didn’t even know how to change a diaper.   
  
“Ma?” came Elijah’s voice, cautious and small.   
  
“Of course I can take care of you, baby, and I always will,” she claimed. In an attempt to calm her hands, she swiped at his face again then kissed his forehead making sure to send him nothing but good dreams. His eyelids grew heavy with the touch.   
  
“Better than anyone else can,” she added with a wink. He giggled as his toy box across the room began to rattle. A stuffed animal launched through the air, gently hitting him on top of his head before nestling beside the face. He hugged it tightly in his arms and pulled the blanket up to his chin. With another wink, his night light beside the bed switched on as the overhead light switched off. She didn’t move until his eyes closed, then she made a swift and quiet exit.   
  
“Is he okay?” Don asked as he entered their bedroom a while later wrapped in a towel. Kelsey was seated on the queen-sized bed in her silk nightgown. The whole time she was listening to the shower run, she let her mind wander. It wandered and it wandered until she turned off the hot water, earning a yelp from Don in the other room. She turned her light brown eyes to her husband as he stepped into a pair of boxers.   
  
“He’s just tired. The party took a lot out of him,” she lied.   
  
“I don’t blame him. That was a lot of kids in one house,” he agreed. She pulled back the blanket and slid between the sheets. Don looked terrified.   
  
“You-You’re not sleeping in the guest room tonight?”   
  
“Not tonight.” She was tired of giving up what was hers for him and the new queen-sized mattress had been a gift from herself to herself. When the news about Don and Katrina made it's way back to her, she couldn’t even sleep in the same bed as him after the first time. She had had a nightmare and unconsciously negatively discharged in her sleep. Don was covered in hives and had night terrors for a week because of it. That was before she had gotten a grip on her emotions about the entire thing. She was better now, but he still found himself walking on eggshells at bedtime until she would gather her pillow and retreat to the guest bedroom. Tonight was the first different night in months. She turned off the lamp on her side of the bed and turned her back to him as she settled in. He blinked stupidly, staring at the back of his her scarfed head.   
  
“Should I go-“   
  
“If you want to,” she cut him off, impatient and ready to sleep because of the big day she had planned tomorrow. There was a still silence before Don grabbed one of his pillows and quietly left the bedroom. Kelsey smiled to herself as the lamp turned off, engulfing the room in serene darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Don made sure Elijah made it on the bus for school before he left for work himself, leaving Kelsey home alone on her day off. Being an artist meant working from home a lot, but only if she had requests, commissions, or wanted to send something off for some extra change. She couldn’t paint today. There was still a tremble in her hands after her baby boy revealed the mistress’s intentions to him too soon. Kelsey knew she could end it. She knew with an effortless snap, blink, wink, or no movement at all that she would be able to end it all. For the first time ever, she could feel herself leaning toward the darkness of her powers. 

But she didn’t want to use them. Her mind raced the whole time she got dressed for the day. It only started to lull during the car ride only to return to a roar once she made up her mind on where she was traveling. A few people were already afraid of her and she knew she would be a prime suspect who wasn’t above the law if something happened to Katrina Caliente. She didn’t necessarily have to kill her though. She could just... No. She grit her teeth. She didn’t want to rob anyone of their free will. It had happened to her during training at HQ when she was younger and she hated the feeling, how sick it made her. Besides, Katrina had ties to the mob and was close neighbors to the Landgraabs who had a sprawling branch of security cameras all about their neighboring property. Yes, if anything happened to Katrina then Kelsey was sure to move to the top of the suspect list.

Her cell phone rang. Her nanny and best friend, Brycen’s number popped up on the screen in the dashboard. She cleared her throat before she pushed the green button to answer. 

“Hey Bry,” she chirped with a fake smile. 

“Was that you that I just passed driving along Oasis Lane?” he asked, suspicion heavy in his voice. 

“Yeah. I’m picking up some supplies from the store for my next project,” she lied. 

“Your store is in the opposite direction. Kels, don’t lie. You might need me as an alibi,” he said with a sigh. Kelsey’s hands tightened around the steering wheel as she paused at a stop sign. Her eyes slowly scanned the arid neighborhood before she spoke.

“I’m just going to speak to her,” she insisted. “She crossed a line with my son.” 

“Is Elijah okay? What happened?” 

“He's fine. I just... I was tucking him in last night when he asks me what a stepmom is. He knew it was wrong. He was nearly vibrating with fear when he asked. I thought maybe one of his friends mentioned it to him. So I asked where he heard it. He says Miss Caliente told him she was going to be his new stepmom,” Kelsey explained, voice quaking with growing rage as she recounted the whole thing. Miss Caliente could have been completely correct in her statement but it wasn’t her business to tell him. The phone line was silent. 

“Brycen, I’m just going over there to talk to her. I don’t want to hurt her. I don’t plan to hurt her. I swear. I just need her to know talking like that to my boy was wrong.” 

“You have to let Don go soon, Kelsey. This isn’t good for you. You and I have been friends for years and to hear you vehemently seethe the way you have been lately? It’s not you,” Brycen said. Kelsey spun the diamond ring around her finger and her eyes began to fill with tears. She had been so excited. Before she opened her eyes and ears enough to know the whole story, she was naive and happy. She thought she was finally going to be the one to change the don Don Lothario. He had gotten down on one knee for her and surprised the whole town and everything felt right for a while until it suddenly wasn’t right. 

He was working later or he had so many new business meetings. He had so many columns to write and emails to send, which wasn’t completely false. One day, as she sat locked in the bathroom, scrolling through the work emails on his phone, she found the ones shared between him and Katrina hidden amongst them.  When she asked him about it, he didn’t deny it. He called it an accident. He said he didn’t love Katrina, just that he was attracted to her and that he didn’t want to lose his family over the accident. 

Even with him shattering her existence with words, Kelsey sat quiet and listened. She listened as he spun a story she made herself believe for a little while to feel better. Then it turned out it wasn’t an isolated incident, that the mistress and her husband were consistently seeing one another. That’s why he was the don and would always be the don. 

“I know what I’m doing,” she said before ending the call. She looked up at the miniature mansion along the river as she made her way down the sidewalk. The Caliente sister's home. She had ridden past it a few times but never lingered long enough to stare. The Spanish Venetian architecture was beautiful. There were bright green vines growing up over one side of the house, wrapping around the stylized gutter and spilling around the banisters of a second-floor balcony where one of the sisters was seated with a book in her hand. She absentmindedly glanced down at the visitor before realizing who she was and hopping to her feet then disappearing inside the house. The front door opened a few seconds later. 

“Lady Roarke. H-Hey,” the thin blonde greeted. 

“Dina,” Kelsey said with a nod. “Is Katrina home?” 

“Um, yeah. She’s... I’ll get her. Come in,” Dina opened the door wider but Kelsey shook her head. 

“This is a quick visit. I’ll wait out here.” 

Dina nervously tucked her head and hurried away from the door. Everyone knew about it and everyone reacted differently. Dina was the youngest of the sisters, barely 25. She was currently enrolled in culinary school and she didn’t sign up to deal with witches and infidelity. Kelsey knew she scared the young woman. It wasn’t her intention. She had never hurt anyone with her powers but everyone had a pretty good idea of what she could do. Katrina stepped into the door jamb, closing the front door behind her as she joined Kelsey outside. 

“How can I help you, Lady Roarke?” 

Hearing the mistress use her maiden name made her want to vomit. A million different scenarios flashed behind Kelsey’s light eyes as she gawked at the woman in front of her. Her bright hair shone in the sun. Her chest was full of plastic and straining behind her blue tank top. Kelsey barely shook her head to focus once more on the task at hand. 

“I would greatly appreciate if whatever little focus you can maintain in life, that you keep it on my husband. My son isn’t any of your business. He is a child. He doesn’t need an earful of any of this.” 

“Do you think you can hide this from him forever?” Katrina asked with a smirk. “Don is insatiable. He calls on me more and more and as long as he calls, I’ll answer. Your time is growing limited. I just wanted Elijah to properly understand what it means if and when he starts to see me around more because his dad’s dick’s favorite place is with me.” 

Kelsey blinked a few times, shocked. Katrina had appeared off-put and anxious at the party but now she was carelessly spewing venom. Kelsey’s hands tightened by her sides, catching Katrina’s eyes. 

“He told me you don’t like to use your powers to hurt people. I used to be afraid you would tear me apart with your mind but he told me not to worry about you. He said if anything happened to me, he’d have you committed and you know what? I don’t think most anyone else in town would object.” 

Kelsey’s breath caught in her throat. Katrina flipped her scarlet hair over a shoulder and smirked. Don had a favorite and that favoritism had resulted in a level of confidence Kelsey wasn't quite ready to fight with. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised. It had been some time now. Katrina was reaching a level of comfort and confidence. Don would defend her quicker than he would the mother of his child. Kelsey knew what she had to do, but she would make it hurt someone first. 

“Have a good afternoon, Miss Caliente,” Kelsey muttered, turning on her heel and marching away. 

She drove back home with both hands wrapped tight around the steering wheel. Katrina’s smug smirk was burned in his vision. She wanted to shove her into the door behind her or strike her, yell about how she could have Don if she just left her and Elijah alone. She just wanted to know of the peace she knew before Don interrupted it all. 

Once at home, she furiously dug through her garden in the back yard. She had to finish before her husband returned home from work and before Elijah got dropped off after school. She pulled up dark roots, plucked off wilted flower petals, and squeezed the juice from a few fruits. She swung open the cellar door around the back of the house and descended the rickety staircase. She could feel cobwebs being caught against her skin and dust filling her lungs. It had been years since she had come down here last, but it was long overdue. She lit a few candles then lit the fire pit beneath her little black cauldron. She filled it with rainwater collected in glass jars then threw in what she had snagged from the garden. 

She marched back upstairs and pushed into her home, focused on the task at hand. She dug through the dirty clothes basket in the corner of their bedroom and pulled out a pair of Don’s worn boxers. She pulled a bit of his hair out of the comb on the dresser then returned to the cellar. The mixture in the cauldron was boiling and bubbling. She tossed in his boxers and his hair before she ran her tongue over her teeth, collecting enough saliva to add her spit into the mixture. She stood over the brewing concoction with her hands out, tingling fingers extended. 

“Desire no more the whore. I bind your hunger to what was once yours,” she chanted. She chanted it over and over, eyes closed, until it felt just right then she stopped. She picked up the cauldron and lugged it up the stairs and out of the cellar. She dabbed at the sweat on her forehead before she walked the perimeter of her home, making sure to spill a bit of the concoction into the grass until the cauldron was empty. Her chest swelled with a pain that brought her to her knees. She gasped, hand clutching her jeweled necklace as her eyes rolled behind their lids. It was working. 

* * *

Elijah was reading to Kelsey on the couch when the locks on the front door began to turn. Kelsey's heart leaped into her throat. Don was home. She suddenly remembered the potion she had concocted earlier and turned her attention to the door as it slowly swung open. Don paused in the doorway, eyes rolling in his head as he crossed the threshold. He swayed, his hand still wrapped around the doorknob. It was happening.

“Dad?” Elijah spoke up. Don stopped swaying and shook his head. He looked a little paler. 

“I’m alright, bud,” he insisted, finally shutting the door. He tugged at his tie as he crossed the room. 

“Kelsey, can I speak to you in the kitchen?” 

She sighed before kissing Elijah on top of his head and leaving the room. 

“Katrina called and told me you stopped by today,” he said as soon as she entered the room. 

“I just wanted to talk to her. That’s it,” she insisted. “So I did then I left.” 

Don waited for the rest of the story. Kelsey shrugged. 

“I don’t know what else you’re looking for,” she said with a small laugh.

“That’s it?” 

“That is it. We talked. I left. I didn’t fight her or do any spells on her if that’s what she’s told you. She’s not worth the expense of the power,” she explained. Technically, she wasn’t lying. She hasn’t put any spells on the woman. He pursed his lips and planted his hands on his hips. Finally, he let out a defeated sigh and loosened the black tie around his neck.

“Alright. Just...stay away from the Caliente house, alright? People talk enough as is,” he sighed as he left the kitchen, scratching his head. He for sure thought he had something else to say, something to start an argument so he could use it as an excuse to “get some air and calm down” then maybe call Katrina. Now, he just wanted to shower and go to bed. His head was killing him. Kelsey smiled to herself as Elijah stepped into the kitchen. 

“Can I have some ice cream?” 

“Of course my baby can have some ice cream.” 


	3. Chapter 3

The following morning, Don was up earlier than usual for it to be his day off from the office. He typed away at his critique column drafts on his computer, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as they slid down every now and then. He loved it there but the humid Oasis Springs heat was not kind to any of its inhabitants. He could feel sweat pooling along his shoulder blades, making his gray t-shirt cling to his athletic frame. One room over, Kelsey lay in the firm bed as she watched the ceiling fan spin slow circles above the cool room. It was almost time. She could feel it, but she had to be sure. It wouldn’t last forever and for however long it did last, she had to make sure she took the steps she wanted. She listened to Don talk with Elijah in the kitchen as the two ate breakfast. Finally, she decided to get out of bed. She had a commission due the next morning and today would make for a decent day to gather the inspiration but only after she pulled the final string on her enchantment. 

She let her hair down from its bun and her thick, curly tresses tickle her shoulder blades as she stepped into the bathroom. She wriggled her toes against the cold linoleum. The white light over the sink let out a faint buzzing sound. There was a slow and almost unnoticeable drip from the stainless steel faucet. She was aware of everything. Yes, it was time. She turned on the warm water in the shower and let the shower pelt her face, eyes closed. She let out a long exhale through her nose, letting all the air leave her lungs and slow her heart rate. 

The bathroom door creaked open. Don watched his wife lather soap all over her body through the foggy glass of the shower door. His heart was racing and his face was flush. He wrenched his shirt over his head then unbuckled his shorts and let them fall to the linoleum. It had been years since he had touched his wife and now it was all he wanted to do. 

He pulled back the glass door and she looked up at him with expectant, dark eyes. She took a step back to let him join her under the stream of water. She grabbed his face in her hands and made him look her right in the eyes. He went slack-jawed, entranced. Katrina’s words echoed in Kelsey’s head before she spoke. His favorite place, huh? 

“You can’t have sex with anyone that isn’t me,” Kelsey quietly ordered. 

“Okay. Why not?” he droned. 

“You won’t be able to maintain an erection unless it is me. Do you understand?” 

He hesitated, swaying in her grasp. “I... I understand.” 

She let him go and he stopped swaying. He shook his head but his eyelids remained heavy. He was panting. She ran her hand over the tattoo on his arm and he jumped, almost as though he didn’t realize she was in the shower. He would be a part of her world again, only for a little while. She would make the most of it. Don tucked his head to nuzzle her nose with his, quietly begging for a kiss. She turned her head away and hid the disgust on her face. Part of her missed him, but the disdain he had made her feel for years made her bury and suppress those feelings. She would slowly but painfully torture him as a form of revenge. 

“I have work to do,” she said, quickly stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around her frame. He didn’t move an inch until she shut the bathroom door behind her. He shook his head and cleared his throat. His heart was racing. He wasn’t sure where he was. When had he gotten into the shower?


	4. Chapter 4

Kelsey was pushing her cart through the aisles of the grocery store when something tickled the base of her neck. She twitched and inched away in response. It tickled again and she whirled around. She was alone in the aisle of cleaning products. A bubbly pop ballad spilled from the speakers overhead and the mindless buzzing of other customers droned on from all around. The tickle turned into a knot that rolled in her gut. Something was happening. 

She grabbed her full cart and did a U-turn, following wherever the tug wanted her to venture. Her tennis shoes squeaked against the polished linoleum as she hurried past aisles, determined. The universe never led her astray. In fact, if she had listened to her gut, she wouldn’t have gotten mixed up with Don... She shook her head clear of the thought. It wasn’t all bad. She had her beautiful son and magic would keep her from entirely losing her head. She just needed a little more time...

Her stomach lurched as she came to an abrupt halt at the end of the alcohol aisle. A blond man was taking turns peering down at two different bottles of wine in his grasp. He wore a military uniform, the cap tucked underneath his arm by his side. His yellow hair was cut short and combed then swept neatly against his scalp with gel. Kelsey pretended to eye the cocktail mixers behind him as she slowly pushed past with her cart. The man muttered to himself and squinted down at one of the labels before glancing over his shoulder at the woman behind him.

“Excuse me, ma’am? Can I get your opinion?”

Kelsey hesitated but turned around to face him. A pair of brilliant blue eyes didn’t even flinch when her light brown eyes met his gaze. He didn’t know her. He didn’t know the story. Everyone in town knew the story from beginning to end. Except him.

“Hard choice?” she jokingly asked. 

“A little. I’m making braised lamb with eggplant Parmesan. The Pinot noir will complement the lamb,” he gestured with the bottles. “But the Sauvignon will bring out the eggplant. I don’t want to look like the town’s alcoholic by buying both.”

Kelsey chewed her bottom lip and cocked her head to the side. Being the town alcoholic wouldn’t be the worst rumor to go around. “Well, which dish is your weakest?” she questioned.

“I was a professional chef before I joined the military. I like to think I don’t have a weak dish,” he countered to which she raised an eyebrow, earning a sigh out of him. “Alright, the eggplant. I suck at drawing out all the water before baking, so I wind up with a dish that’s a little soggy in the middle.”

“Then go for the Sauvignon,” she suggested with a small shrug. “Also, you should try pink Himalayan salt instead of regular salt on the eggplant. Maybe let them sit out a little longer by an open window as well.”

“Do you know which aisle I can find that salt in?”

“Three.”

He sat one of the bottles back on the shelf and placed the other in the empty basket beside him. He turned to Kelsey and extended a hand.

“Callum Clinton,” he introduced himself. “I just moved here this morning.”

“Kelsey,” she bit back her last name, trying her best to keep herself from appearing tainted to this new face as she shook his hand with a firm grip. She hoped he didn’t feel the wedding ring that was suddenly cold around her finger. “What brought you to Glimmerbrook?” she blurted out. Her curiosity was getting the best of her. 

“Something has been sort of drawing me here for a while. I couldn’t ignore it much longer. I found myself thinking of this place often, even dreaming of it. There’s plenty of work here too. I’ll be posted at the lab on the edge of Strangerville. What do you do?”

“Not as extravagant as you. I am a painter,” she beamed. “Mostly freelance work. Occasionally I sell a really good piece for a good price and can relax a while.”

“Well, I know who to call when it’s time to decorate the walls of my place,” he suggested with a kind smile. The knot in her stomach was flipping and flopping. Everything about him was making her nerves go wild. Had she accidentally pulled him here? She had been warned about the subconscious power magic held. That only meant one thing... Wait. What would happen once he heard the rumors and stories?

“Well I’ll probably be seeing you around. Good luck with those eggplants.”

He flashed a smile once more and watched her push her cart down the aisle then disappear around the corner. Kelsey hurried toward the checkout area, eager to put distance between her and the newcomer.

* * *

“Dinner’s ready, babe!”

Kelsey paused mid-paint stroke and frowned to herself. It was the second time he had called her to dinner. The pet name was the first he had called her that in years. It was the first time he had cooked dinner for anyone besides himself in ages as well. He usually spent dinner time missing from the house or making up an excuse to quickly get up from the table and glue himself to his “work” computer. 

“Mooooom! We gotta eat!” came Elijah’s voice from down the hall. She sat down her palette and brush and finally joined them in the kitchen at her son’s request. 

There was an plate of dinner waiting for her on a placemat. Elijah sat across from his father, impatiently fidgeting. Don smiled as he watched her take off her painting apron then wash her hands at the sink. He pulled out her chair and gestured for her to sit before he reclaimed his own seat. Kelsey looked down at the meal in front of her like it was something foreign. Lasagna, green beans, and garlic bread. Ice cubes floated in their glasses full of lemonade. It had been quite some time since someone else had prepared dinner. Part of her was surprised Elijah was excited to eat. He was oblivious to everything unfolding around him.

“How’s your work coming along?” Don spoke up a minute later. She watched Elijah shovel forkfuls of food into his mouth.

“Slow down, sweetheart,” she quietly said before she turned to her husband. He was bright eyed and waiting for her to speak. She knew it was the enchantment but she divulged anyway. “It’s going well. This piece will be sold to that new museum in San Myshuno. I can’t decide if I should border it or let them do it.”

“You should do it. You’ve got a good eye for it. I’m sure they’ll like it either way. Maybe we can take a train to go see it once it’s on display,” he chimed in. Elijah snickered into his meal.

“Daddy’s being weird,” he let out with a few giggles.

“Sweetheart...” Kelsey warned, blushing.

“Daddy’s just in a good mood, bud. Finish your food so we can get you some of that leftover ice cream cake,” Don said, winking at Kelsey who smiled at her son as he grew giddy. This was the happiness he deserved from both his parents but she knew it wouldn’t last and part of her could tell Elijah understood. He had a part of her magic in his DNA. Sometimes if he focused hard enough, he could feel what was going on but his attention span was too short to ever push the why and how. He just needed more time.

As the three of them sat together and ate ice cream cake, Kelsey could hear Don’s cell phone ring from the living room. The fact that he didn’t have it on him was new. She eyed him expectantly to gauge just how strong she had made her spell.

“Can’t be anyone important at this time of night,” he said with a shrug.

“I’ll check. It could be work,” Kelsey suggested, quickly pushing away from the table. Her heart raced in her chest as she marched into the neighboring room and approached the phone, lying on the side table. The capital letters K.C. lit up the screen before Kelsey silenced the ringer and flipped the device over.


	5. Chapter 5

Kelsey leaned against the bare wall opposite her painting and beamed as she watched the movers adjusting the canvas. 

“A little lower on the left side,” she gently ordered. “Wait! There. Perfect. Thank you so much.” 

She placed a few green bills into their palms as tips for their work before they shuffled out of the expansive and mostly empty art gallery. There were a few minutes until it welcomed the public for the day. She admired her work for a moment before the automatic lights hanging over the painting switched on. 

“Show time,” she whispered to herself. Soft music began to play through the speakers overhead and the sound of growing chatter could be heard as the gallery opened for the day. 

“You’ve done it again, Kels,” came Brycen’s voice as he strutted into the room from the corridor. He wrapped her in a tight hug and turned to her canvas with a wide smile. She readjusted her scarlet blazer as a sense of accomplishment swelled in her chest. Her cheeks burned pink. The two took several steps back and admired the painting in silence as a few gallery artists came and went. On the watercolor covered canvas was a woman sitting alone beneath a tree with her legs sprawled upward against the trunk. Her hair billowed out across the grass beneath her, mimicking the treetop full of leaves above her. It had become one of her personal favorites and she couldn't wait for the public to see it. 

The real crowd would form well after lunch once they read about the painting reveal in the short column Don insisted on writing and publishing himself. The thought made Kelsey’s stomach flop. The enchantment was working but she had only intended to use it for her own personal vendetta against Katrina. Don was a fantastic writer, but she worried the wrong kind of negative publicity would follow from her cheating husband adorning her name in a headline. Everyone knew their story. 

“Kels, did you hear me?” Brycen asked, gently shaking her shoulder. She blinked a few times and met her friend’s concerned gaze. 

“Huh?” 

“Earth to Lady Roarke. What’s got your mind so preoccupied?” he asked. 

“It’s Don. I’ve...” she lowered her voice. “I put a hex on him.” 

“It’s what he deserves and it is about time,” Brycen said with a scoff. “So what’s the issue?” 

“He’s being nice to me and I-I don’t know.” 

“No, honey. Yes, you do know. Do not go soft on me right now. We hate Don. We abhor Don. He’s a horrible person and we aren’t going to forget that. He’s only being nice because of what?” Brycen perched a hand behind his ear and waited for his friend to answer his seemingly rhetorical question. 

“Because of the spell. Right. You’re right. Okay,” she blinked a few times and shook her head. 

“Oh my. Who do we have here? I thought I knew everyone from around our way,” Brycen muttered as he fidgeted with his polka dot bow tie. Kelsey followed his gaze and found the man she had met in the grocery store entering the gallery. 

“Oh!” she gasped. She immediately smoothed out the wrinkles in her white blouse and tightened the belt running the waistband of her indigo dress pants. She breathed into her palm to test her breath. Brycen raised an eyebrow her way. 

“Have you been holding out on me? Spill it,” he ordered. 

“Huh?” 

“You just did a full body check when you noticed Mr. Hunk-a-licious over there enter the room. Who is he? Have you two met? What is his annual income? When did he get here? Does he have a twin brother?” 

“His name is Callum. He’s in the military. We bumped into each other at the grocery store about a week ago,” she explained. 

“So when are you asking him out?” 

Her eyebrows skyrocketed and the two stepped to the side as two museum-goers approached, hand in hand, to view her painting. 

“Ask him out?” Kelsey echoed. “I am married.” 

“When has that stopped Don?” Brycen shot back. Kelsey let herself stare at Callum as he examined the various paintings in the room, blissfully unaware of the sets of eyes boring holes into the back of his head. 

“At least be his friend. Give him a tour of the city,” Brycen suggested. "Take him to our favorite bar so I can stare at him while you chat." 

The two erupted in a fit of laughter that made a few heads turn their way. Among them were Callum's. Kelsey's smile grew even wider as his gaze met hers. He recognized her and sent a small wave.


End file.
